


The Sticky Note Project

by killingmonsterswritingthings



Series: 10 Days of LawLu [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Nightmares, Post-it Notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 04:22:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7028362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killingmonsterswritingthings/pseuds/killingmonsterswritingthings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Law lives in his head too much. Luffy wants to get him out of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sticky Note Project

**Author's Note:**

> i finished this right before watching the new episode and they fit kinda well together i guess, i was really happy about that
> 
> based on the lawlu week prompt for day 3: Friendship//Family (Nakama)

The days they spent without chaos, destruction or adventure were rare and surprisingly, Law didn't particularly like them. He hadn't thought so or expected that in the beginning, had assumed that he would love some rest once in a while, but standing still allowed for too much time to think.

It was alright when the sun was up and the decks of their ships were busy, but when nighttime fell and sleep wouldn't come – or only appeared in the form of nightmares – he always pondered if fighting monstrous enemies without pause wouldn't be better than this.

Luffy didn't see it that way. Sure, he got bored sometimes. But he also loved seeing his crew happy and relaxed and every day could yield an adventure if you just tried hard enough.

It took Law a while to figure out that when Luffy sat out on the figurehead for hours he wasn't necessarily looking ahead to new adventures or even the end of their journey, no, he was pondering the past.

In its own way, that was reassuring to him.

Still, Law was the one who had to combat nightmares every time he went to sleep while Luffy only seemed to get them every once in a while.

They were both haunted, but Luffy seemed to deal with it much better.

  


He woke from another nightmare on one of these uneventful nights, sweaty despite the cool breeze that was coming in from the porthole of his cabin.

“Hey,” Luffy's voice murmured next to him. “You're okay.”

Law knew it was supposed to be reassuring but he only managed to choke back a sob. “I'm really not.” He tried to sit up and needed two tries, still ending up hunched over and breathing too hard.

“What did you see?” Luffy asked. “In your dream, I mean.”

“My sister,” Law said after a moment. “My parents, too...”

He could feel Luffy's hand on his back, rubbing in soothing circles. For once not saying anything.

“My family is dead. Has been for years,” Law continued. “You'd think I would forget about them at some point, right? Or at least that the dreams would stop. But I guess I'm just unlucky.”

“I still dream of Ace, too,” Luffy said.

“I know,” Law said and left it at that instead of saying one of the million unkind things in his head. He might mean them in the moment but he didn't want to hurt Luffy, even in his own pain.

“You have your nakama,” Luffy said after nothing more came from Law. “Aren't they your family, too? You have us. You have me. We can be your family now.”

Law didn't say anything for a few minutes and tried to focus only on the way Luffy rubbed his back, but he ended up spilling his feelings anyway. “I don't think I deserve it. I don't deserve you.”

The motion on his back stopped. “Why?” Luffy wanted to know.

“I'm too fucked up,” Law said. “I wanted – and still want to – kill people. I can't go a day without thinking about dying myself either.”

“That's bullshit,” Luffy said. “We're all messed up.”

“I know,” Law said, “but-”

“No,” Luffy said, a little too loudly, and Law flinched. Luffy immediately lowered his volume. “No, listen to me.” He took Law's hands into his and looked him into the eyes. “Look at Robin. Do you know what she has done? She's been hunted – and hunting – her entire life. But she's so fundamentally good. Zoro used to be a bounty hunter. I'm not holding that against him either. One of the first things Nami did to us was steal our ship and what little treasure we had to help her village. She's still here. Chopper poisoned his teacher and father and fought us all the way. We love him.”

Law opened his mouth to protest but Luffy shook his head and shushed him. “No. This is no different to what you have done, alright? You were angry as a child and you're still angry. So what? You have better impulse control than I do, that's for sure. You wanted to avenge Corazón. That's not wrong. You freed an entire island in the process. Actually, no, you freed the entire Grand Line in the process. And you're still here, too. That's more than I can say about a lot of other people.”

“You're exaggerating,” Law mumbled. Sure he had played a part in ridding Dressrosa of Doflamingo, but the entire island was now in ruins and the Grand Line had bigger problems than one overzealous warlord.

“So what if I am?” Luffy shrugged, still not having let go of Law's hands. “That's what I'm known for, isn't it? But I can ask the others, if you like. They'll say the same things.”

Law pulled a face. “I don't think so.”

“Are you challenging me?” Luffy asked, his raised eyebrows evident in the dimly lit room.

“I'm really not.”

  


  


Law didn't think he would sleep much more that night but he did doze off a few more times. It didn't help much with him feeling rested in the morning, but at least he didn't have any more nightmares.

When everyone gathered on the Thousand Sunny for breakfast Luffy immediately went up to Robin and started whispering something to her instead of diving straight into his food. Whatever he said to her at first made her look incredibly serious before her mouth quirked up in a smile. After Luffy had finished and she had nodded a few times she went off to the others and Luffy finally turned to his breakfast.

Law eyed him suspiciously. “What was that about?” he asked.

Luffy looked at him with a faux-innocent expression and hamster cheeks. “Hmm?” he made, unable to speak due to all the food in his mouth.

“Forget it.” Law rolled his eyes.

Luffy just swallowed his massive mouthful of food and grinned.

  


Over the next few hours Strawhats and Heart Pirates alike seemed to vanish from time to time, one or two people at a time, and then reappeared a few minutes to half an hour later, and even though Law tried to pay attention he had no idea what they were doing or where they were going.

  


The first sticky note Law spotted was the one on his sword.

“ _I love taking naps with you_ – Bepo”

Then the one on his hat.

“ _I'm glad you keep the scars on this crew to a minimum_ – Shachi”

Then the one on the door to his quarters.

“ _Thank you for keeping us out of trouble more than you get us into it_ – Penguin”

There was one in the rough shape of a ship on the underside of his dinner plate.

“ _You're a delight to cook for_ – Sanji”

He found another nestled in the pages of the book Robin handed him in passing.

“ _You are an inspiration_ – Chopper”

Another one on precariously dancing on Bepo's fur.

“ _You're good at keeping people safe_ – Nami”

  


It went on like that forever and somehow Law never got to catch Luffy to shake him for it. He didn't even know if he wanted to thank him.

  


  


At the end of the day Robin took him aside.

“You know why he did this for you, right?” she asked.

Law shrugged. “Yeah,” he made.

But Robin was having none of that. “He loves you,” she said firmly. “And he wants you to be happy. Which is a hard thing. Both of them.”

“I know,” Law said, leaning against the railing. He didn't look at her. “But I feel like half of the things I read today were untrue...” Even admitting this bit was hard, his hands clenched into fists on top of the rough wood.

Robin nodded in the periphery of his vision. “I understand,” she said. “I understand how hard it is. But you know you don't have to love yourself, right? It's okay to let other people do that for you if you can't do it.”

And Law had to look at her after that, just for a moment, a little perplex, before looking back out at the sea. It had never occurred to him that even when he wasn't particularly fond of himself there was other people who didn't hate him. Sure, he had been aware that his crew didn't stick around because they were forced to but he had always assumed that it was out of convenience, or respect at most.

Robin silently stood with him for a while before pushing off the railing and wandering towards the part of the ship where Nami was helping Franky inspect a bit of rigging. Law appreciated it.

  


The last one he found was Luffy's, of course, stuck to the lamp on his operating table when he went to check that night – as he did every night.

“ _Thank you._ ”

Law had to grit his teeth and set his jaw not to cry.

  


  


Law was still awake on the deck of the Sunny when Luffy returned from the kitchen, which he had been raiding for his midnight snack.

“Sanji forgot to lock the fridge,” he declared triumphantly and flopped down next to Law, licking his still sticky fingers.

“I'm glad,” Law said absentmindedly.

Luffy looked at him from under his hat and then pushed it onto his back to be able to see him better. “Are you okay?”

“I… Yeah,” said Law. “I'm just thinking, I guess.”

“About what?”

“What you did for me,” he said.

“Was that too much?” Luffy asked after a moment. “I really liked doing it and so did the others. I'm sorry if it was...”

Law scratched the back of his neck. “I don't know,” he said truthfully. “It's a bit overwhelming. And I seem to have trouble dealing with all this… positivity.” He hesitated for a moment. “But it was nice. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” Luffy smiled.

They sat there, leaning against each other for a while, and for the first time Law wondered if maybe Luffy was right and he had found his family again, after so many years and so many miles and too much darkness.


End file.
